SPRINGDALE — A quick two-touchdown lead is nothing new for Shiloh Christian.
Doing it without taking an offensive snap is, though.
The Saints returned two Pulaski Robinson turnovers for touchdowns to start the game and the Saints coasted from there in a 56-12 rout of the Senators in a Class 4A state semifinal contest in Champions Stadium.
For the fifth straight season and third in Class 4A, the Saints (13-1) will play for a state championship in Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium Friday against Pulaski Academy, which defeated Star City in the other semifinal Friday night.
The Saints, who won their 34th consecutive home playoff game, are seeking to win a third straight Class 4A state title and a fifth championship in six years under coach Josh Floyd. But Floyd was forced to watch Friday’s game on a webcast away from the stadium following his suspension for being ejected from last week’s quarterfinal game against Nashville.
It didn’t matter. Tucker Barnard, who coached the team in Floyd’s absence, said the two quick defensive scores set the tone.
“I don’t know that it changed a lot of what we were doing, but it may have changed what (Robinson) was doing,” Barnard said. “It probably gave them a greater sense of urgency, where they had to speed up and score a little quicker.
“It probably would have been a heck of a football game without some of those turnovers.”
It took just 2 minutes, 11 seconds for the Saints to grab the 14-0 lead, all with stellar quarterback Kiehl Frazier and his potent offense on the sideline. A tipped pass was returned 34 yards by Saints defensive end Ryan Hyde for a touchdown, then one play later Zann Jones ripped the ball away from Senators back Jaalen Watkins and returned the fumble 33 yards for another score.
Robinson coach Todd Eskola said the two costly turnovers “just killed us.”
“We knew coming in that if we played mistake-free and error-free, we were going to have an opportunity (to win),” Eskola said. “And we gave them 28 points.”
Actually it was 21, as the Saints later added a 24-yard interception return by David Tyler to end the scoring.
In between, the Senators (11-3) were able to move the ball on the ground behind Watkins, who finished with 136 yards and a touchdown and stellar receiver Evian Hill. The pair each scored a rushing touchdown and Hill prevented two more Shiloh touchdowns on interceptions in the end zone.
The Saints, using the 14-0 early cushion, played basically conservative. Garrett Harper powered the run game with 167 yards and touchdown, while Frazier completed 10 of 15 passes for 196 yards and two scores. One of those was to Jones, who scored his 54th career receiving touchdown, moving him within one of tying the state record of 55.
After Shiloh grabbed the early lead, Robinson settled down and put together a scoring drive that was started on a 30-yard kickoff return by T.J. Mitchell on a short Shiloh kickoff. Using the toss-sweep almost exclusively, the Senators drove to the Shiloh 5, where Hill took a reverse and simply outran the Saints defense to the end zone, cutting Shiloh’s lead to 14-6.
By the time Robinson scored again, the margin was 35-6 and the game was basically over. Shiloh led 42-12 at halftime and invoked the 35-point sportsmanship rule two plays into the fourth quarter on Frazier’s 4-yard run.
Prep Football
Class 4A State Semifinals
SHILOH CHRISTIAN 56, PULASKI ROBINSON 12
Robinson 6 6 0 0 — 12
Shiloh 28 14 0 14 — 56
First Quarter
Shil — Hyde 34 interception return (Hale kick), 10:08.
Shil — Jones 33 fumble return (Hale kick), 9:49.
Rob — Hill 5 run (run failed), 8:00.
Shil — Frazier 1 run (Hale kick), 5:54.
Shil — Harper 5 pass from Frazier (Hale kick), 3:08.
Second Quarter
Shil — Jones 22 pass from Frazier (Hale kick), 7:58.
Rob — Watkins 13 run (pass failed), 4:31.
Shil — Harper 14 run (Hale kick), 1:11.
Fourth Quarter
Shil — Frazier 4 run (Hale kick), 11:27.
Shil — Tyler 24 interception return (Hale kick), 11:09.